A STUDY TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF CAREGIVERS OF UNDER FIVE CHILDREN DURING DIARRHEAL ILLNESS AMONG SELECTED RURAL AREA COMMUNITIES OF GURUGRAM.”

Abstract

Background: In the twenty first century, diarrheal illness is very critical condition in children's diarrheal illness is usually short - lived lasting no more than few days, but when diarrhea lasts beyond few days, it is usually a clue to another problem Diarrhea is a leading killer of children, accounting for approximately 9% of all deaths among children under age 5 worldwide 2021. This translates to over 1200 children dying each day, or about 444,000 children a year, despite the availability of a simple treatment solution. Methods and Materials: The study was conducted on 138 caregivers in each of non-experimental descriptive research design was used to assess the knowledge and practices of caregivers of under- five children during diarrheal illness among selected rural communities of Gurugram. The present study was carried out in rural areas at Gurugram, Haryana. A semi structured questionnaire was administered to measure the level of knowledge and practices of caregivers of under- five children through this we are able to conduct the level of knowledge. The study was conducted successively and data was collected. By developing a checklist, the non-experimental study was given for the people including sociodemographic data, knowledge questionnaire and checklist to prevent diarrheal illness in under- five children and the tools validity and reliability were assessed using the descriptive method and the data analyzed. Result: The Pearson's correlation analysis between knowledge scores and practice scores reveals a correlation coefficient of -0.004, indicating a very weak negative relationship. The correlation is not statistically significant, as the p-value is 0.959, which is much greater than the conventional significance level of 0.05. This suggests that there is no meaningful association between the knowledge scores and practice scores in this dataset. Despite the mean knowledge and practice scores being relatively close (10.91 and 7.46, respectively), the lack of a significant correlation implies that changes in knowledge do not have a substantial impact on practice performance. Conclusion: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of caregivers of under-five children during diarrheal illness. The findings reveal that while caregivers possess a basic understanding of diarrheal illnesses and their management, gaps persist in critical areas such as the identification of dehydration, proper preparation and administration of oral rehydration solutions (ORS), and awareness of preventive measures.